Abernathy losing grip on Kern County politics

It’s official.Political consultant Mark Abernathy went 0-3 in big races this year. His and Shannon Grove’s candidate Pedro Rios’ defeat (conceded yesterday to Rudy Salas) was the final nail in the GOP coffin as the Dems now officially have their supermajority.Abernathy candidates Harley Pinson and si...

Political consultant Mark Abernathy went 0-3 in big races this year. His and Shannon Grove’s candidate Pedro Rios’ defeat (conceded yesterday to Rudy Salas) was the final nail in the GOP coffin as the Dems now officially have their supermajority.

Abernathy candidates Harley Pinson and sitting supervisor Karen Goh all lost in the June primary ballots.

Abernathy did manage to pull off a Bakersfield city council seat win, but still falls short of a majority there. He is on the downside of a 3-1-1 status on the Kern County Board of Supervisors.

I say 3-1-1 because I’m not giving the Mick Gleason victory to his column as Gleason is his own man and said so repeatedly during the campaign. Abernathy also won’t have a big say in Gleason’s staffing.

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Now that the Dems have control of both houses of state government, they will have to learn how to govern to the middle. There is nowhere else for them to turn in failure. There is nowhere else to look if they fail but in a mirror and see who is to blame....themselves!

Yep, with that majority comes a big responsibility. Time will tell if the power in control has the broad shoulders necessary to guide the state through some tough times and decisions.

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Another insider tip.....don’t look for Governor Jerry Brown to rubber stamp every action passed by the Democrats. He has been at odds with his own party during the past two years and isn’t exactly the biggest favorite among Dem leaders in Sacramento.

That in itself may be the checks and balances state policy/finances will need moving forward. Rather ironic, once known as “moon beam,” Brown might become the Republicans’ best friend.

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Republican leaders in Kern County and nationwide are rethinking their immigration stance. Too late for this recent election but the new stance will be necessary moving forward when you consider Mitt Romney earned less of the Hispanic vote (less than 30 percent) than Sen. John McCain four years ago and less than what President “W” Bush received in 2000 and 2004.

If the Republicans would have adopted reform as presented by Bush this last election would have turned out different. There is more to the Immigration issue than securing our borders. Like it or not, the GOP faithful needs to embrace a path to citizenship (favored by over 65 percent of all Americans) to be a relevant part of the state and national political scene.

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By the way, the controlling Dems in Sacramento can do one obvious thing to cut down on entitlement payments. While some individuals deserve assistance in welfare, food stamps, unemployment, etc. others do not.